Amended plan for Coyotes' use of ASU's arena to be discussed at upcoming meeting

The wheels are in motion for the Arizona Coyotes to play at ASU's new-multipurpose arena starting this fall.

According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the Arizona Board of Regents is scheduled to meet on Thursday and have sent out a memo which includes the topics being discussed at the meeting. Among those topics will be an amended plan for ASU's arena which will include upgrades to meet NHL requirements.

"In December 2021, the Arizona Coyotes approached ASU to propose playing their 2023, 2024 and 2025 National Hockey League (NHL) home games at the newly constructed Multipurpose Arena. The Coyotes need this temporary home due to the end of their lease agreement with the City of Glendale and the approximate three-year build time for their proposed new arena in Tempe," the document said.

Arizona games will be played in ASU's arena until 2025 at least, so in order to accommodate them being there, the Coyotes will need to have an annex structure built. In their document, the Arizona Board of Regents say that the plan includes a two-story, roughly 15,000 square foot annex structure.

"A revision to the original project plan is proposed to accommodate the Coyotes, including the construction of a two-story, approximately 15,000 gross-square-foot annex structure adjacent to the northeastern edge of the Arena. This annex will accommodate NHL-quality home and away team dressing rooms, training areas, equipment rooms, nutrition stations, coaches work room, team storage and a fitness room."

As Elliotte Friedman pointed out, there will be a need for upgrades to the arena, and those upgrade include: NHL-quality ice equipment, enhanced broadcast infrastructure, dasher boards, media and medical services as well as replay capabilities to meet NHL requirements. The total cost is expected to be around $20 million USD, which the Coyotes will need to cover.

Arizona won't be making the playoffs this season, it's basically a foregone conclusion at this point. Their last home game in Glendale is set Friday, April 29th against the Nashville Predators. And by the looks of the Arizona Board of Regents' document, that would be the Coyotes' last home game for quite a while.

"The facility is expected to be available in December 2022 to host the first Arizona Coyotes home game of the season," they said. This means that the Coyotes will likely have to go on the NHL's longest road trip to start a season for the 2022-23 campaign.

Report indicates Coyotes have indicated possibility of playing three years at ASU; team will have to add an "annex structure" and in-arena upgrades (costs appear to be just shy of $20M).— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 6, 2022

Source: Arizona Board of Regents

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